Letter from Ron Witty to his mother, father and siblings

Letter from Ron Witty to his mother, father and siblings

Writes that he still had not received any mail from them. Describes new year celebrations and seeing a film and getting a lift back to camp.

1943-01-01

One page handwritten letter

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EWittyARWitty[Fam]430103

MR. & MRS. H.A. WITTY,
63 FARNDALE AVENUE,
SOUTHCOATES LANE,
HULL, YORKS.,
ENGLAND.
834410
Sender’s Address: 1520694 L.A.C. WITTY A.R.,
48 AIR SCHOOL,
WOODBROOK,
EAST LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA.
Date: 3/1/43
Dear Mum, Dad, Norman and Hazel,
It’s Sunday morning, so once more I’m writing my weekly dispatch. I’m sorry to say I haven’t received any news from you yet: I suppose it is too much to expect, considering the Christmas rush. I hope you did get my telegram before Christmas, that’s the chief thing.
Most of us stayed up on [deleted] C [/deleted] New Year’s Eve to see the year 1943 begin. I regret to say, however, that quite a good number of the chaps were ‘out’ to the world well before midnight and travelled back to the camp in a very unairmanlike manner – quite horizontal in fact. There’s no whiskey up here but the various types of brandy seem to be quite wicked.
I spent the first 3 hours of the New Year at a pre-view cinema show, where I saw the film “The Fleet’s In.” We expected to have to walk back to camp, but our luck was in and we got a lift on a Ford truck. We were squeezed in like sardines and almost had to stand on one another’s shoulders but it was much better than walking 2 1/2 miles at 3 o’clock in the morning.
I hope you’re receiving my airgraphs regularly. I forget how many I’ve sent. So far I’ve written at intervals or [sic] 5, 6 or 7 days. I hope you’ve all started New Year well and in good health. God bless you all.
Ron
P.S. PLEASE SEND ME GRANDMA’S & AUNT ETTIE’S ADDRESSES